|
Fidanza, Burd, Garlock, & Hejna Victorious at
Dunn Tire Raceway Park BY: Lori Overdorf |
|
. |
|
Lancaster, New York – Mother Nature finally decided to cooperate with Dunn Tire Raceway Park’s stock car program and an action packed night was the result. “Superman” Sege Fidanza flew into Modified Victory Lane for the second time this season while Billy Burd also continued his winning streak in the SST Sportsman division. Tim Garlock notched another win for the season while Ken Hejna was declared the winner in the 4 Cylinder feature, taking home his first win of the season. The 4 Cylinders were the first feature event on the schedule and provided a whole nights worth of racing excitement to the fans that had gathered at DTRP for “Autograph Night”. Kevin Morreale and Cassie McGrath brought the field to the green flag and Morreale took control of the lead. It was a dog fight behind him however, as the drivers battled hard for position. Derek Wagner, who had started ninth, and Matt Druar, who had started from the eleventh starting position were making their way up through the field and in just four laps Wagner had taken possession of the lead. By the halfway point of the feature, Wagner and Druar had left the rest of the field behind as they ran first and second. However, a late race caution bunched the field up once again. The action was fast and furious and with two laps to go and tempers amongst the top two drivers began to flare. Druar ducked under Wagner and took possession of the lead. Wagner, not pleased with running second, tapped Druar right back out of the way and took back the lead. The favor was then returned by Druar who punted Wagner into the turn four grass and went on to take the checkered flag. Upon review by the DTRP officials, third place car Ken Hejna was awarded the win. Up next were the open wheel SST Sportsman. David Tedesco started on the pole and took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Jon Price, who had started fifth, bobbled through the infield and dropped to the back of the pack, while his brother Jeff Price began challenging Tedesco for the top spot. Behind the leaders, a fierce three way battle for third began to emerge as Billy Burd, Andy Jankowiak, and John Julicher Jr. raced hard for position. Burd soon moved up to join Price and Tedesco. On lap six, Tedesco bobbled coming out of four while Price applied heavy pressure for the lead. However, while Price went to the high side down the front stretch to go around Tedesco, Burd dove down low and passed both cars to take sole possession of the lead. Burd managed to hold off Price during a number of early race double file restarts and by halfway had built a sizable lead over Price, Jankowiak, Nick Cappelli, Bobby Holmes, Jon Price, and Tom McGrath. As the laps clicked off, Burd built his lead and went on to capture another SST feature win. The Street Stocks were up next and with the start of the race Dave Frieder led Rick Ortwein, Mike Nash, and Cory Gallagher to complete the first few laps. Nash was soon up to wrestle the lead away from Frieder and took control of the top spot on lap eight, also taking Cory Gallagher with him who slotted into the second position. The field began to shuffle itself out and by the halfway point Nash and Gallagher had built a comfortable lead over Ortwein, Kris Hamman, Tim Garlock, and Kevin Mendel. However, a yellow flag on lap 15 erased any lead that the leaders had built as the single file restart but the cars nose to tail. While Nash got a good jump on the restart, Garlock made his move under Gallagher and took second. Garlock was on the move and charging hard for the lead. Just three laps later on lap 18, Garlock ducked low on Nash coming out of turn four and took the lead. Nash was not about to give up though and held tight with Garlock. In the end, however, Garlock had the more dominant car and he went on to cross the finish line first. He was followed by Nash, Gallagher, and John Hewson, who had started 17th. The 600 horsepower Modifieds were the up next for a 50 lap main event, the last race of the evening. Wilbur Hebing and Eric Beers led the field to green and the two ran side by side for half a lap until Beers took command of the lead. Tom McGrath soon joined the party up front after passing Dave Wollaber for third and the top three of Beers, Hebing, and McGrath ran nose to tail. Sege Fidanza was also on the move with a strong car as he made his way up to fourth, catching the leaders who had built somewhat of a lead on the rest of the field. A yellow flag for debris on lap 14 saw Hebing head pitside for the night with mechanical issues, lining up Beers, McGrath, Fidanza, Wollaber, and Erick Rudolph to take the green flag. Beers once again got a good start although McGrath and Fidanza hung with him. At the halfway point of the feature the top three had built a sizable lead over Rudolph and Wollaber. As the laps clicked off it looked as though no one had enough to challenge Beers for the lead. However, with under 20 laps to go Fidanza showed his hand, revealing a tire management strategy. With McGrath also showing that he saved some tires for the end of the race, the top three bunched up once again, running nose to tail with just twelve laps remaining. Fidanza took advantage of a small bobble by McGrath as he come out of turn four and slotted himself into the second running position. Although Beers was able to gain some breathing room while Fidanza and McGrath traded spots, it was short lived as Fidanza was to Beers bumper by lap 41. Fidanza made his move just two laps later as he powered to the outside of Beers in turn three and took the lead. As the final laps were completed, Fidanza built a bigger and bigger lead over the field and went on to capture his second win of the 2009 season. Next week at Dunn Tire Raceway Park is “Emergency Responders Night” where all police, fire, and EMT personnel with valid identification receive $5 off grandstand admission. For more information visit www.dunntireracewaypark.com or contact Director of Stock Car Events Lori Overdorf at 716-207-2824. 4 Cylinder Feature Finish (8/15/09): Ken Hejna, Mike Maggiore, Charles Buchanan, Dean Siminski, Kevin Morreale, Cassie McGrath, Dan Roesch, Derek Wagner, Matt Druar, Driver 1, Tim Durfy, Kalie Clementi, Samantha Jones, Jayme Thompson, Darren Baily Lap Leaders: 1-3 Morreale, 4-19 Wagner, 20 Druar SST Feature Finish (8/15/09): Billy Burd, Andy Jankowiak, Jeff Price, Nick Cappelli, Bobby Holmes, Tom McGrath, Jon Price, Sherri Hogan, David Tedesco, Frank Batista Jr., Mark Pennell, Russ Gian, Craig Dolphin, Ron Williams, Steve West, Kyle Sharpe, Todd Hoddick, Jerry Gradl Jr., John Julicher Jr., Moose Rutherford Lap Leaders: 1-6 Tedesco, 7-20 Burd Heat Winners: Burd, Julicher Jr., Jeff Price Street Stock Feature Finish (8/15/09): Tim Garlock, John Hewson, Mike Nash, Cory Gallagher, Kris Hamman, Kevin Mendel, Rick Ortwein, Scott Mutka, Jeff Guidotti, Ed Nowak, Joe Light, Nate Straus, Joe Haley, Gary Bartella, Jim Stein, Chip Wood, Matt Jurek, Gary Denea, Mike Maggiore, Mike Weston, Debbie Jurek, Paul Tessier, Ricky Farina, Heather Weber, Dave Frieder, Bobby Hanel Sr. Lap Leaders: 1-8 Frieder, 9-17 Nash, 18-25 Garlock Heat Winners: Nash, Hamman, Garlock Modified Feature Finish (8/15/09): Sege Fidanza, Eric Beers, Erick Rudolph, Tom McGrath, Dave Wollaber, Karl Hehr, Bob Reis, Billy Putney, Mark Tychoniewicz, Bobby Holmes, Jeff Hamman, Sean O’Neill, Tom Weist, Wilbur Hebing Lap Leaders: 1-42 Beers, 43-50 Fidanza Heat Winners: Hebing, Fidanza
|